


Sugar And Spice

by pasiphile



Category: Luther (TV)
Genre: F/F, Mildly Dubious Consent, Psychopaths In Love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-09
Updated: 2013-11-09
Packaged: 2017-12-31 23:43:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,444
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1037797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pasiphile/pseuds/pasiphile
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>
  <i>If he'd read a different book by a different writer at just the right time in his life he'd have been a different man.</i>
</p><p> </p><p>Zoe Luther read a different book and ended up a copper. She's clever and intuitive and brilliant at her job, and has never met her match until she faces Alice Morgan in the interrogation room.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Sugar And Spice

**Author's Note:**

  * For [merryghoul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/merryghoul/gifts).



Zoe stared morosely at her blinking cursor.

Not that it would change anything. No amount of staring would get her what she needed to change those four little words, _insufficient evidence; case closed_.

Even when Alice has as much as admitted she'd killed her parents, right to Zoe's face. Carefully choosing her words, of course, saying nothing that would ever stand up in court. Black holes and dark matter, indeed.

God, she was tired.

She rubbed her forehead and checked her phone. Another voicemail from John, going from angry to tired to heart-broken.

“ _Really, Zoe, I want us to – I want to give it a second chance. I want it to work, but not if you can't – I need some small sign, Zoe, something. Change departments. Ask for fewer hours. Anything._ ”

A small sign, he called it. As if he didn't know that Serious Crime was her life.

Well, sod him. She jabbed at a button and put her phone down on her desk, a little harder than strictly necessary. He'd known what he was getting when he had married her, didn't he? So he shouldn't complain now. She ran her hand through her hair and sighed.

“You look tired.”

Zoe whirled around. Alice. Alice Morgan, standing in her doorway like it was normal, like she was invited.

But maybe she should have expected this, from the way Alice's eyes had lit up when Zoe had said _innocence is a negative,_ the way her grin had gradually grown as Zoe had played along with her little game. And of course Alice would be the stalking type. But still...

“How the _hell_ did you get in here?” Zoe snapped.

“Through the door,” Alice said, widening her eyes. “How else?”

“I don't know, abseil down from the top of the building?” Zoe stood up. No guns around, unfortunately, nor anyone close to come help – she'd worked enough late nights to know the building was empty. Nothing standing between her and a psychopathic killer.

So why wasn't she afraid?

_\- same reason why she felt fascination and not disgust when she sat down in the interrogation room, probably -_

Alice shrugged. “Why make it difficult when easy gets the same result?” She nodded at Zoe's computer. “Speaking of results...”

“Insufficient evidence,” Zoe said, not looking away from Alice for even a second. “Case closed. As you knew it would be.”

“No such thing as a certainty.” Alice stepped closer, still looking disturbingly at ease. “Just... probabilities, percentages. The occasional anomaly.” She gave Zoe a fetching grin. “Like you.”

Zoe snorted. “Anomaly? Well, I've been called worse, I suppose.”

Alice cocked her head. “I'd take it as a compliment, if I were you. You see, I did my research. My conclusion was that the majority of the police were... ” She paused and smiled sweetly. “How do I say this without insulting anyone... Ah, yes: of _limited intelligence_. I assumed it would be easy.” Her smile faded a little. “And then _you_ appeared.”

“Not so easy, was I?”

“No, not easy. Definitely a challenge. _Interesting_.”

Zoe pinched the bridge of her nose and tried to clear her head. “I'm just a cop, Alice.”

“Hm, are you? It's just a job, isn't it? But you wear it like it's armour. _I'm a cop_.” She stepped closer. “Does it help you sleep? Does it give you some reassurance? Or...” Another step. “Do you lie awake at night, wondering what it might have been like if you _weren't_ a cop?”

Zoe looked up again. Alice had come close, within reaching distance. She could smell the rain on the other woman's hair, the wet wool and perfume. Alice's tongue darted out, licked her lips. She was wearing deep-red lipstick, and it made her look like she had just eaten someone. Predator all the way.

Zoe took a deep breath. Her stomach flipped. All that separated them was a few inches of empty space, nothing at all, she could simply –

And then Zoe's phone started to ring.

She blinked, feeling like she just woke up, some small fraction of her common sense coming back to her.

“Hubby checking in?” Alice asked cheerfully. She reached for the phone. “Isn't that just - ” And then she stopped, looking down at Zoe's hand, suddenly clamped around Alice's wrist. “Oh.” Alice clucked her tongue. “Sore spot?”

“Ex-hubby,” Zoe said curtly.

Alice pulled a mock-sympathetic face. “I'm very sorry to hear that. But you know what they say, plenty more fish in the sea.”

Zoe pulled her hand back and Alice took a few steps back, strolling across the room like a potential buyer surveying the property. “So,” she asked over her shoulder. “How long since it, how do they say it again? Since it _all fell apart_?”

Zoe looked down at her phone. “Four months. Approximately.”

“Ah.” Alice turned on her heel and smiled at her. “And Henry Madsen was the proverbial straw?”

Zoe put her phone back. “Something like that, yes. Alice – ”

“Why am I here?” Alice smile grew a little. “To talk to you, obviously. Curiosity. It's my sin. Well, one of them, at least.”

“What about pride?” Zoe crossed her arms, cocked an eyebrow. “Vanity?”

“Oh, those too. I'd almost say I've got the full set, except...” She took a step closer. “No one would ever accuse me of sloth, would they?” She stopped in front of Zoe and hovered her hand just above Zoe's shoulder. “Now _lust_...”

Zoe breathed in, sharply. “I thought you didn't do religion.”

“I don't.” She dropped her hand lightly onto Zoe's shoulder. It felt like her palm burned straight through her jacket, set fire to her skin. “Stories people tell their children to keep out the dark.”

Zoe looked up again. Alice's eyes were half-lidded, dark. Green, they were green, strange, Zoe had never really noticed that. And the way she looked at Zoe...

John had looked at her like that, when they first met. Some kind of conference, and she'd started a shouting match with some twat about police ethics and then she'd turned around and there John had been, staring at her like she was the Second Coming. But that adoration had died, along with the rest of their relationship, replaced with anger and frustration and resentment. Poor John.

And now there was Alice.

 _Well, fuck this_ , Zoe thought, and she grabbed Alice's collar and pulled her into a kiss.

She seemed surprised, Alice. Her hands flailed briefly before settling on Zoe's hips, and it took a second or two before she really kissed back. But she did, eager and hungry, one hand coming up to take a handful of Zoe's hair, pull her closer. She made a pleased noise when Zoe's teeth grazed her lips and nipped back enthusiastically.

Zoe grabbed Alice's hair and pulled her off. She was breathing hard, trembling a little, and Alice – Alice was pretty much in the same state.

“See?” Alice whispered. “I didn't think you'd actually go through with it.” She leaned in again, hand on Zoe's cheek.

This was a fundamentally _bad_ idea. She should do something to stop this. Right now.

Alice's hand skimmed her waist, fingers splayed over Zoe's ribcage.

Any minute now...

Alice's arm tightened around her waist. She pushed Zoe back and with one sweep of her arm she cleared the desk. Things fell to the floor – pens, folders, whatever else was there – and Zoe got pushed backwards until she was lying flat on her desk, legs dangling over the edge her desk. It should _bother_ her, Zoe was a neat freak, always had been. More than once she'd snapped at John for leaving his stuff around, even at moments when she was supposed to be _swept away with passion_. But she didn't care about any mess _now_.

Alice's hand found the hem of her skirt and edged up. Zoe desperately tried to get her common sense to work again. Every bit of her sanity was _screaming_ at her that this was insane, and yet all she did was flung out an arm to grasp the edge of her desk. She needed something to hold on to, because Alice's fingers had found the inside of her thigh, teasing touches not quite where she wanted them.

Alice. Damn her and her fucking smile and the way she looked at Zoe –

But she was damned if she was just going to _lie back_ like this.

She braced her feet against the desk and sat up again. Her shirt was hanging open – when had that happened? – and she was breathing heavily. Alice was looking even more smug than usual.

“Oh dear,” Alice drawled. “Come back to your senses? Going to throw me out in a fit of chaste outrage? Or are you just – ”

Zoe slid off the desk. Something clattered onto the floor and then Zoe lunged, pinning Alice against the wall, wrists held above her head.

Alice's breath caught. She looked up at her hands and then back down, at Zoe's mouth. Her smug grin had _finally_ started to slip.

“Do you ever just _shut up_?” Zoe hissed.

Alice licked her lips. “I realise this a clichéd answer,” she said hoarsely, “but, Zoe,” and she leaned in a little closer, as far as Zoe's grip would allow her, “ _make me_.”

She smashed their lips together again, one hand keeping Alice's wrists together, the other tearing her coat open. She wrenched Alice's collar aside and kissed her throat, and she moaned in response. It was one hell of a change from the earlier confident mocking.

“So you are human after all,” Zoe muttered, mouth on Alice's pulse.

Alice angled her head back, panting. “Animal.” She tried to pull her wrists free but Zoe slammed them back against the wall. Alice gasped, but, well, she probably liked that kind of thing. “Primal instincts.”

“Really?” She bit down and Alice groaned. God, it was satisfying to hear that – wanting desperate noises, after all that fucking superiority.

She pulled back again. Alice's cheeks were flushed. Her pupils were enlarged, making her eyes seem dark, lips wet and lipstick smudged.

“Say it,” Zoe hissed, in a sudden fit of aggression.

Alice smiled, albeit a little shakily. “Say what?”

“You're the genius, work it out.”

Alice's fingers curled, but she didn't try to pull free again. Her eyes skipped between Zoe's, searching. For once she didn't seem to be mocking her. Instead, she just seemed _pleased_.

Finally, she grinned and bared her throat again. “I _want_ you,” she said, voice hoarse.

Zoe went back to Alice's throat – primal indeed, straight for the jugular – and leaned close, thigh pressing between Alice's legs. Her own skirt had rucked up, and she pulled it up and out of the way impatiently.

She rocked her hips. Alice made another of those noises, quiet and needy. “Zoe – ”

“Shut up,” she said again. She was getting lost in it, the last of her unease fading. Room for nothing but the hot friction between her legs and Alice's frantic heartbeat against her mouth and the way she arched and gasped. Zoe turned her head and saw Alice's eyes squeezed shut, her teeth sunk into her bottom lip – she looked _vulnerable_.

Zoe shut her eyes. She clutched at Alice's waist, panting, close to the edge.

"Go on," Alice whispered. "Let  _go_."

Zoe cursed and jerked forwards, Alice's laughter in her ears, body shaking with pleasure.

Damn. It had been much too long, more than just the four months since she and John split up, and she - she hadn't _forgotten,_ really, just...

She breathed in deeply, head resting in the crook of Alice's neck. Her heart was racing, it felt like there was too little air in the room. She swallowed.

Was that it? All that it took was the promise of sex to make her forget her duties, her responsibility? On the other hand, she hadn't done anything wrong, had she? A quick shag in her office might be a bit sleazy, but it wasn't - 

Shit. Who was she trying to convince? She shouldn't have done it, simple and clear. She took another deep breath, tried to shake the last of the hazy lust away. Alice was still pressed up against her, warm and solid. And she was still holding Alice's wrists up, probably hard enough to hurt, to bruise. Her arm was starting to cramp. She should let go.

She didn't want to.

Alice turned her head and nuzzled Zoe's cheek. “The show's over, Zoe.”

Zoe peeled her fingers off and stepped back, looked down. Her shirt was sticking to her skin with sweat, her skirt was wrinkled. God only knew what her hair looked like.

“Well,” Alice said breathily, straightening her skirt. “That was a pleasant surprise.”

“Don't tell me you didn't foresee this.” Zoe did her shirt up again, fingers trembling. “Not one of your probabilities?”

No reply. She looked up and saw Alice looking at her, head tilted to one side, like she had after Zoe had first stepped into the interrogation room. Like Zoe was a puzzle she couldn't immediately solve.

“No,” she said at last. “Not really.”

“We live and learn,” Zoe said, a little weakly. She glanced up at the security camera. No blinking light, why hadn't she noticed that before?

“Oh, don't worry, I made the system crash,” Alice said lightly.

“Didn't you say you hadn't expected this?”

“Oh, I hadn't, but that doesn't mean I didn't have _plans_.” She tugged at her dress, straightening it out. “Although, if I'm honest, I much prefer this outcome to the one I had in mind.”

“Do you,” Zoe said flatly.

Alice smiled one of those enigmatic, amused smiles she was so good at and took a step closer. “I most definitely do. And am looking forward to future encounters, obviously.” She put her hand back on Zoe's shoulder and kissed her cheek. “Goodnight, Zoe,” she whispered, and then she turned and left.

Zoe leaned back against her desk and breathed out heavily.

 _Future encounters_. She should - should change the locks or have someone in uniform keep an eye on her house or even go and tell John about this, although god only knew what his reaction would be. But honestly, the thought of seeing Alice again... It wasn't nearly as unpleasant as it should be.

Maybe she was losing her mind. Maybe Alice's insanity was contagious.

A sudden noise made her jump – her phone, lying discarded on the floor. She bent down and picked it up.

 _Unknown number_ , the screen announced. A message. She opened it.

_See you soon! xoxo <3_

Zoe stared at it. And, feeling slightly ridiculous and not caring one jot, she started to laugh.


End file.
